Passions run deep on both sides of the Big 10 game played every year late in the season after the leaves have fallen and (usually) cold temperatures set in.
Snow showers arrived in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Nov. 27 as Eureka’s own Hassan Haskins burst onto the national stage for the host Wolverines. As a star running back at Eureka High School, Haskins was lightly recruited by major college teams around the country. But the University of Michigan liked what they saw (2,197 yards rushing and 34 touchdowns as a senior) and told Haskins they wanted him.
Four years later he and the Wolverines are on the cusp of winning a national championship. A first-team all-Big 10 selection, Haskins scored five touchdowns and rushed 28 times for 169 yards as Michigan beat the Buckeyes 42-27 in front of 111,156 fans to propel the Wolverines to the Big 10 championship game against the University of Iowa.
With second-ranked Michigan leading Ohio State 14-13 at halftime, Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh kept giving Haskins the ball in the second half and the former Wildcat scored four touchdowns. His five for the game tied a school record as Michigan snapped an eight-game losing streak against its bitter rival.
Haskins has been described as modest, quiet and determined.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Haskins said in a postgame interview. “Every single one of my offensive linemen played their hearts out. I bow my head for that. This whole feeling is amazing and is a blessing.”
And how did it feel to take over the game in the second half?
“I told myself, I’m not going down,” he said. “We’ve got to run to win the ballgame and I just kept telling myself that. I put that in the back of my mind. I went out there with the determination to win.”
That led to the Big 10 championship game last Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis against the Hawkeyes (10-3), winners of the league’s West Division. The Wolverines methodically tore Iowa apart in a 42-3 victory, which secured its spot in the College Football Playoff. Michigan will face the University of Georgia (No. 3, 12-1) in the semifinals at the Orange Bowl in Miami on New Year’s Eve. Top-ranked Alabama plays the University of Cincinnati (No. 4) in the Cotton Bowl the same day.
For Haskins and the Wolverines, the stakes keep getting higher. Although a senior, the 6-1, 220-pound athlete still has a year of eligibility remaining because he red-shirted his freshman year. It’s likely he’ll explore his options in the 2022 National Football League draft and enter the NFL scouting combine this spring. If Haskins has two more games like his last two, his draft stock will certainly climb, especially given the high attrition rate for running backs in the NFL. This season he’s rushed 261 times for 1,288 yards. His second touchdown against the Hawkeyes was his 20th of the season, which broke Ron Johnson’s school record set in 1968.
In the Big 10 championship, Haskins wasn’t the focal point early in the game but contributed in several ways. With the Wolverines leading 14-3 in the second quarter, he stayed on the field to cover a punt and tackled the Iowa returner for a seven-yard loss.
Haskins scored the first of his two touchdowns against the Hawkeyes on a 4-yard run just inside the right pylon to give Michigan a 21-3 lead in the third quarter. It capped a 10-play drive. He scored again with 11:16 to play to make it 28-3 and finished the game with a modest 56 yards rushing and 22 receiving.
But it’s what Haskins did on the play before his record-setting TD that caught the attention of Harbaugh. Haskins blocked a blitzing Hawkeye up the middle, allowing quarterback Cade McNamara to hit receiver Luke Schoonmaker with a pass to the Iowa 1. That block proved Haskins can do a lot more than just run the football.
“I think you can talk about every part of Hassan Haskins’ game and refer to it as excellent, outstanding, every single phase,” Harbaugh said after the championship game. “How many times has he picked up a first down all season? I don’t know if they keep that stat, but yards after contact, I know they keep that one, (and) he’s really good. Pass protection, outstanding. Catching the ball out of the backfield is a real strength of his.
“When the ball’s not in his hands, he’s a blocker and extremely good.”
In the first quarter against the Hawkeyes, A.J. Henning gained 29 yards on his only carry of the game. Haskins helped spring Henning loose with a continuous block all the way to the sideline.
Last week, prior to the title game, Eureka city government hung a banner on Main Street to express the town’s support for its newest sports star. For Mayor Sean Flower and many Eurekans, Michigan football games are now must-see TV.
“He’s the same age as my daughter and he was so good at football (at Eureka),” Flower said. “It’s satisfying around here because we’ve known how good he is for years. As good of a player he is, he’s as nice a kid. Everybody loves him in Eureka.
“That was one of the best college performances I’ve ever seen,” Flower said of the Ohio State game. “Everyone knew who the ball was going to. It was the same thing when he was in high school. He’s a phenomenal athlete.”
As a Wildcat junior in 2017, Haskins finished second in the high jump at the state track and field championships, clearing 6-7. For his first touchdown against Ohio State, he leaped over the line of scrimmage to reach pay dirt.
Eureka head football coach Jake Sumner, who went to a Michigan game earlier this season, said he was gratified to see a player he mentored succeed in the national spotlight.
“It’s no shocker for me,” Sumner said. “Seeing him on that next stage, knowing who he is as a competitor, he always has that way to rise and he played at a high level. It was absolute pure joy seeing his success. He’s taken advantage of an opportunity. He’s such a great teammate and hard worker.”
“I watched the whole (Ohio State) game and I was like a little kid. I told my wife, he’s making history. His blockers are top notch. The entire country is watching him on the biggest stage.”